Labour leader Phil Goff places his vote in a ballot box at Wesley Intermediate School in Sandringham, New Zealand, in the morning of the country's general election, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (Dean Purcell)

(Newser)
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The leader of New Zealand's Labour party conceded defeat to Prime Minister John Key's National Party in elections today, paving the way for him to return for a second term as the nation's leader. The dominant performance by Key's National Party, however, appeared to come up just short of giving it enough votes to govern alone. Key is likely to find enough support among minor parties to shore up his leadership.

With most of the vote counted, the National Party was projected to win 60 of Parliament's 121 seats, an increase of two. The Labour party had just 27% of the vote, meaning it will lose about nine of its 43 seats and prompting party leader Phil Goff to concede to Key. The Green party, on the other hand, won 11% of the vote, its best showing ever. But the big news among minor parties was the return of the anti-immigration New Zealand First party to Parliament after it didn't win any seats in the last election. The party was winning nearly 7% support, enough for about eight seats.

For the record, the New Zealand National Party has probably has a similar policy agenda as the U.S. Democratic party, so not really "conservative" by U.S. standards. They're strong on environment protections, and currently are funding fiber-optic high speed internet throughout the country. Night-and-day difference between them and the GOP. Here's they're policy positions if you're curious: http://www.national.org.nz/PDF_General/Environment_and_climate_change_policy.pdf

SilenceDogood

Nov 26, 2011 6:24 AM CST

The global wave of Conservativism must make the Kool-Aid Gang shudder.